By Larry Judkins
Glenn County Observer
Orland – Local police officers missed Sean Prior, 32, Friday night, but caught up to him early Saturday evening.
Throughout most of Friday evening, law enforcement officers surrounded a residence in the Paigewood Village Apartments, south of East Walker Street (Highway 32) in eastern Orland.
Officers contacted neighbors in the apartments, advising them either to evacuate or to shelter in place.
Not too late into what was believed to be a standoff, Orland officers contacted Chief of Police Joe Vlach and he responded to the scene.
Late Friday evening, the Orland Fire Department was called to the area and asked to stage nearby.
Since standoffs like this generally take many hours to resolve, your generally responsible reporter decided to call it night and went to bed sometime after the firefighters were called to the scene.
He believes the standoff ended in the early morning hours when the officers made their way into the apartment and discovered Prior was no longer there.
But don’t worry. At about 7 p.m. on Saturday, Orland officers, as well as a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy and a California Highway Patrol officer, caught up to Prior just north of the Paigewood complex.
Immediately ahead of this reporter, Westside Ambulance also arrived at the scene and began examining Prior as he sat on the ground. It was not clear to this reporter whether officers had deployed a Taser against Prior.
Prior did not exercise his constitutional right to remain silent. Indeed, he was so excessively talkative that the arresting officer asked him more than once to be quiet – an unusual request given that law enforcement officers normally appreciate it when suspects volunteer information they don’t have to provide.
Let’s just say that it is as if Prior has a Ph.D. in talking but is still in kindergarten when it comes to conversing.
At one point, Prior asked repeatedly, as he was on the ground in handcuffs, “Officer, why will you not take my report?”
The officer, growing increasingly impatient with the constant interruptions of Prior, responded, “Will you shut your mouth so I can talk back to you?”
Prior objected, “You’re not answering my question though.”
The officer pointed out to Prior that he had “fled last night.”
Prior replied, “No, I did not. No, I did not.”
The officer said, when they arrived on the scene, “She [a domestic violence victim] was crying on the sidewalk and you were long gone.”
“I was long gone, yes,” admitted Prior.
“What about the knife and the handgun?” asked the officer.
“What handgun?” asked Prior.
A zipgun was mentioned by the officer, but Prior denied any knowledge of such a weapon.
“So that was just our imagination,” replied the officer.
Prior asked what he was being charged with. The officer told him his charges included assault, and weapons charges (including alleged possession of a firearm by a felon).
Prior began to argue that the apartment in question “is my residence. That is my residence.”
The officer responded, “You are not to have any contact with –”
“I own the residence,” interrupted Prior.
“Listen to me,” insisted the officer.
“I own the residence,” repeated Prior.
“Listen to me.”
“I own the residence.”
“Listen to me, Sean.”
Prior continued to insist he was the owner of the residence right up to the time he was being placed in the back of a patrol unit.
Watch for an update here on Monday.
The Glenn County Observer 